Bearing and pump operating lever



Oct. 20, 1936.

Jy. P. RATIGAN 2,057,917

BEARING AND PUMP OPERATING LEVER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 18, 1932 Oct. 20, 1936. J. P. RATIGAN 2,057,917

BEARING AND PUMP OPERATING LEVER v.

Filed Jan. 18, 1932 2 sheets-sheet 2 llorneys 'Patented Oct. 20, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE 7 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved bearing and pump operating beam lever for an oil well pumping machine or the like.

This invention is an improvement on my copending application for Bearing for pump operating lever, Serial No. 483,402, filed September 22,

It is the principal object of this invention to provide a sliding connection between the beam of the beam lever in relation to the bearing re.-

sides in the ability to slide the lever from its normal operating position where the sucker or pump rod end of the lever is substantially directly over the pump barrel to a position where the pump rod end of thelever is suiciently removed therefrom to permit the pump rod or other portions of the pumping structure to be readily removed without the necessity of having to dismantle the beam and bearing.

A further object of the invention is to provide the beam lever supporting bearing member with hooked shaped portions which may be cast integral therewith or suitably secured thereto for slidably engaging the anged portion of an I- beam pumping lever or slidably engaging suitable runners secured toc a wooden or other.:t type of beam lever.

A further object of the invention resides in the arrangement of the parts whereby the lever may be shifted longitudinally without becoming detached or disconnected from the bearing, and also whereby the lateral shifting of the lever may be accomplished without disconnecting or dismantling any of the working parts or other portions of the machine, it being necessary only to release the locking means which retains the lever in its normal working position.

Further objects of this invention reside in the simplicity, ease of operation, and in the stability of the device, and also in the extremely low costy of applying the improvement.

The' invention resides in the `several combinations and associations of elements or groups of elements and mechanisms whereby the aforesaid objects andother objects and advantages which (Cl. 'I4-41) will be apparent as the nature of the same is more fully understood from the following description and accompanying drawings wherein is set forth what is now considered to be a preferred embodiment. It should be understood, however, that 5 this particular embodiment of the invention is chosen principally for the purpose of exemplication, and that variations therefrom in details of construction or arrangement of. parts, may be effected and yet remain within the spirit and lu scope of the invention as the same is set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 illustrates in full lines an elevation of the pumping machine to which the invention has been applied and in which the pumping beam or lever is locked to the bearing in operative posi- A tion while the broken lines indicate the lever in its fully retracted position.

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line 2--2 of Figure 1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 3 is a plan view of Figure 2 in which the lever has been indicated by broken lines.

Figure 4 is a side View of Figure 3. 25 Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates the application of the invention to an oil well pump loperating structure lgenerally indicated at I which includes briey a base 2 supporting a Samson post 3 braced by members 4 and 5. A driving mechanism 6 may be also mounted upon base 2 and is provided with crank discs l and wrist pins 8 upon which is journaled the bifurcated end of pitman 9.

Any suitable form or type of bearing I0 may be secured to the top of the Samson post 3, but I prefer to utilize that type of bearing illustrated and described in my copending application previously referred to, which is generally referred to as the rocker type bearing and the embodiment thereof which is utilized in this invention is illustrated in detail in Figures 2, 3 and 4. The bearing I Il includes two bearing members, the base member I I and the rocker member I2.

The base member II is provided with a iat supporting surface I3 upon which the rocker member is adapted to roll, and depending therefrom are the flanges I4 by means of which, and suitable boltsy not shown, the base member is secured to the Samson post. 50

The rocker member I2 is provided with a relatively long rocking surface I5 which is substantially cylindrical in form and adapted to roll back and forth upon the supporting surface I3 when the pump is being operated. 'Ihe advantages of this form of bearing are fully set forth in my copending application previously referred to. To prevent a relative slipping between the engaging surfaces of the bearing, the rocker member is provided with a stud I6 which loosely fits in the socket I'I formed in the base member. However, the stud and socket need not follow closely the form illustrated in the drawings but may take the form of gear teeth for one member with suitable c oacting depressions in the other member. f.

Preferably formed integral with the rocking surface I5 is the bridge member I8 which is supported above the rocking surface by-supporting walls I9.

The beam lever 20 rests upon the bridge member I8 and is slidably secured thereto by hooked members 2| which, in the preferred embodiment, are cast integral with the rocker member but may be otherwise secured thereto if desired.

As illustrated most clearly in Figure 2, the hooked members 2| are so positioned and of such shape vas to loosely but securely connect the bearing rocker member to the beam lever, yet

'having suflicient looseness to permit the lever to slide freely therethrough. When a lever of other form, such as a Wooden beam, is used, the beam may be provided with a metal plate to coact with the hooked members to in the same way make a sliding connection.

It is desirable to limit the longitudinal sliding of the beam and for this purpose any suitable stop means may be used, or, as illustrated in Figure 1, a stop bracket 22 is suitably secured upon the beam to stop further longitudinal move- 'ment thereof when the beam has reached the desired forwardly location Whereat the horsehead 231s in proper alignment with the sucker'rod 24, at which point' it is desirable to securely lock the beam to the rocker member, and for that prpose the rocker member is provided with suitable bolt holes or slots 25 while the beam is provided with corresponding holes 26 through which the clamping bolts 21 are positioned.

By removing the bolts 2I the beam is freed to slide to its retracted position as illustrated in broken lines in Figure 1. The limit of the backward sliding of the beam may be determined by a stop plate similar to the stop plate 22, but I preferably utilize the horsehead brace member 28 for this purpose. As will be noted in Figure 1, the lever in its broken line position is prevented from further backward movement by the member 28 abutting against the forward end of the rocker member I2. f

To rock or operate the beam lever 20, the upl per end pitman 9 is journaled in the usual way adjacent the rear end thereof. The pitman 3 also performs another important function, namely, to support the rear` end o f the lever 20 when retracted to the position illustrated in broken lines in Figure `1.

Counterweights 29 may be positioned upon the rear of the beam lever 28.

To provide a connection between the forward end of lever 20 and the sucker rod 24, I prefer to utilize the horsehead construction illustrated in my copending application entitled Equalizing beam hanger, Serial No. 587,380, led January 18, 1932, which structure briey includes the supporting bracket 30 suitably secured to the forward end of the lever to which the horsehead 23 is pivotally connected as at 3|. The horsehead is provided with an equalizing pulley32 around which the cable 33 is carried while the ends thereof are securely fastened in the crosshead 34 as at 35. The sucker rod 241s clamped to the crosshead 34 in the usual manner. By the arrangement just described the sucker rod 24 is maintained in true alignment with the pumping barrel 35. The brace member 23 previously referred to acts to brace the lower end of the horsehead to the lever as clearly shown in Figure l, and as previously described, it is this brace member 28 which acts as the stop to limit the rearward sliding movement of the beam lever.

The pumping machine, as illustrated in full lines in Figure 1, is in its normal operating position, but occasionally it is necessary to remove the sucker rod from the pumping barrel 35, and to do so the beam lever 2 0 together with the horsehead must be moved out of the way. Heretofore, it has been necessary to dismantle the pumping machine by removing the counterweights 29 from the rear end of `the beam lever,

disconnecting the pitman 9, and also disconnect-l ing the horsehead from the sucker rod and finally parting the bearing lll and then hoisting the lever out of position.' To dismantle the pumping structure is expensive, requiring much labor and time. By means of my invention the beam lever 20 may be easily and readily moved, merely requiring the removal of the bolts 21 and connecting the hoisting means to either of the eyelets 36 and sliding the beam lever rearwardly until the brace member 28 abuts against the bearing rocker member I2. chine is now in the position indicated in broken lines in Figure 1, in which position it will be noted that the horsehead 23 has been removed lsufliciently to permit the sucker rod or the pump barrel to be withdrawn from the well. It will be appreciated that as the rear end of the beam lever is supported by the pitman that it is, therefore, not necessary to remove the counterweights 29 and also that even though the beam lever has been slid rearward with relation to the bearing I 0 the lever is still securely connected thereto by means of the hooked members 2| and for that reason there is no danger of the lever falling off the Samson post 3.

To return the beam lever to its operative position the lever is slid forward until the stop bracket 22 abuts the rear end of the rocker member I2, at which point the bolt holes in the lever and rocker are in alignment and the bolts may be thus easily inserted andthe beam again securely locked in a position whereat the horsehead 23 will be in appropriate alignment with the sucker rod 24.

To prevent parting of the bearing members II l and I2 the flanges 3l are secured or formed integral with the member through which pin 38 is securely mounted. Through the adjacent supporting walls I9 of the rocker I2 are arcuate slots 33 through which the pin 38 extends, thus loosely locking the two bearing members together but permitting suflicientlooseness to permit the nec ssary relative motion therebetween.

In a pumping machine inwhich my invention is utilized the beam lever, whether in its forward, retracted or in any intermediate position, is at all times securely and safely retained therein.

While the invention has been described for use in connection with a pumping machine, it is to be understood that it may be utilized with walking beam levers used for other purposes.

While I have illustrated the preferred form of my invention, it is to be understood that the The pumping maforegoing description is for illustrative purposes 75 only, and I do not desire to be limited by am7 of the details shown, except as defined in the apn pended claims.

I claim:

1. In a pumping machine, a bearing, a beam lever slidably mounted thereon, means for locking the beam to said bearing, and a pitman for operating said beam when in operative position and for supporting the rear end thereof when shifted 'to its retracted position.

2. In a pumping machine, a bearing, a beam lever slidably mounted thereon, stop means for limiting the sliding movement of the beam in relation to said bearing, means for locking the beam to said bearing, and a pitman for actuating said beam when in operative position and for supporting the rear end thereof when shifted to its retracted. position.

3. In a pumping machine, a bearing, a beam lever slidably associated therewith, means mounted upon said beam for limiting the sliding movement thereof, means for locking the beam to said bearing, and a pitman pivotally connected to said beam in spaced relation from said bearing for actuating said beam when in operative position and for supporting the rear end thereof when shifted to its retracted position.

5. In a pumping machine, a bearing provided with a grooved guide-way, a beam having a ange slidably mounted in said groove, means for locking the beam to the bearing, a counterweight mounted upon the rear end of the beam, and a pitman pivotally connected to said beam at a point spaced from the bearing for operating said beam when in its operative position and i'or supporting the counter-weighted rear end of the beam when the beam is shifted to its retracted position.

6. In a pumping machine, a bearing having a plurality of inwardly directed hook-shaped members, a beam having a flange formed along its lower edge adapted to be slidably mounted in the hook members of said bearing, means for locking the beam to the bearing, and a pitman pivotally connected to said beam at a point spaced from the bearing for operating the beam when in its operative position and for supporting the rear end of the beam when shifted to its retracted position.

7. In a pumping machine, a Samson post, a Walking beam, bearing means pivotally connecting said Walking beam upon said Samson post for movement between two positions, one in which the forward end of the Walking beam is in alignment with the Well and the other 1n which the walking beam is retracted to permit access to the well, and a pitman pivotally connected to said beam at a point spaced from said bearing for operating said beam when in its forward psition and for supporting the rear end thereof when the beam is in its retracted position.

JAMES P. RAIIGAN. 

